Four Vikes to launch off for U23 Rowing Championships

VICTORIA – There is no shortage of Vikes rowers representing Canada at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships that stars today, Jul. 19. Four of the University of Victoria’s top rowers will dawn the maple leaf at the four-day event, Jul. 19-23, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Rowing Canada announced the roster in late June which included Vikes men Patrick Keane, Luc Brodeur and Ty Adams, as well as incoming women’s rower and transfer student Caileigh Filmer.

“As always, it is a huge honour to go and represent your country on the world stage,” exclaimed humanities major Keane when the team was announced. “It is also an exciting time to see if the training and work we put in through the fall and spring has paid off.”

“The Vikes program has provided me with a healthy, competitive and dynamic environment, while also giving me academic opportunities. The UVic rowing program has a strong team that is competitive while being very supportive among each other. Location wise, I am very fortunate to be in the same location as the National Training Centre, as they also support me in other ways.”

Keane will race with UBC’s Aaron Lattimer in the lightweight men’s double sculls. Vikes Brodeur and Adams make up two of the four in the men’s quadruple sculls. Joining them are Queen’s University’s Gavin Stone and St. Catharines Rowing Club’s Dan de Groot.

On the women’s side, Filmer will have an important role as the stroke seat in the women’s eight. Filmer has been competing internationally since 2013 and she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and a silver medal at the 2015 U23 World Championships. Filmer is transferring to UVic, beginning in the Fall of 2017, after completing two years at the University of California Berkeley. Most recently Filmer and the Canadian women’s eight finished fifth at the Rio Olympic Games.

2017 Canadian National Under-23 Team to compete at World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria